Lobbyist..hired guns and what you may not be aware of...

So after some discussion with some coworkers the subject of lobbying had come up...most if not all are not aware of the strangle hold these companies
have on the way government does business. I will include just a short tidbit of information for folks to chew on just to show how weak our government
is (United States).

So we discussed the opioid epidemic and I discussed that both parties are at fault for this crisis and the reason it continues is because people are
making money..it's pretty simple..

We start with as a sample a news article from the Texas Tribune
Texas Trbune

Attorney General Pam Bondi in Florida added four more opioid manufacturers and four distributors to her state’s complaint: Endo Pharmaceuticals,
which makes Percocet and Opana; Johnson & Johnson and some subsidiaries, which make Duragesic and Tapentadol; Allergan, which makes Kadian and Norco;
Cephalon, which makes Actiq and generic opioids; and distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson and Mallinckrodt, which "failed to
report suspicious orders while knowing these customers were filling an inordinate number of prescriptions."

So who represents these companies during these finger pointing life destroying times? Law firms and lobbyist who in some case pull double duty..

Please let me direct you to this link that identifies those where in politics who have decided to spread there wings to work elsewhere in the private
sector working for law firms, lobbyist groups and think tanks. Open Secrets

Now you can see here how Purdue Pharma hired as lobbyist groups to sway public opinion within the hallways of our
government..Link to Lobbyist Companies

From there you can essentially link the companies and through a bit more research you can see what politicians jumped on board with these
companies.

The reality is that these politicians are given money by the lobbyists groups to influence policy and oddly enough when they are looking for work
elsewhere where do they end up? In some cases a law firm or lobbyist group that may have influenced previous policy making decisions..

Some can complain all they want about Obama but part of his pledge when he came to office was to eliminate the Lobbyists from the hill...how is that
possible when one of his political creeps was none other than Harry Reid who's five kids were
lobbyists..Link to Reid's Family Info

In the underworld of political lobbying, John Podesta is king. He co-founded the Podesta Group, whose international client list is long, and its
access to top U.S. politicians unparalleled. Yet, it’s a murky world. The Podesta Group represents morally dubious foreign leaders, countries that
commit atrocious human rights violations — and at least one bank — with direct ties to the Kremlin. And all these shadowy figures are looking to
buy U.S. influence. In that regard, Mr. Podesta has unfettered access. He currently operates as Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign chairman.
He’s previously served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and as a counselor to President Barack Obama. His brother, Tony Podesta, is a top
bundler for Mrs. Clinton and an active lobbyist at the Podesta Group. Mrs. Clinton has received $12.6 million in lobbyist backing, with Tony Podesta
raising more than $100,000 this cycle. As the mainstream media investigates the old lobbying ties Donald Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort had
in Ukraine, it’s only fair to take a look at the Podesta Group and the influence they currently peddle around the globe.

Please do not interpret me targeting dems as being corrupted by this process as it goes both ways..these were just on my mind...folks are welcome to
do your own research to identify republicans who are also swimming in the same waters..and sometimes working within the same lobbying firms...and you
thought they couldn't work together to come up with solutions.. hopefully this made some sense but I'm not doing all the digging..it's at your
fingertips if you care to look just below the surface but I truly believe Obama was concerned about this because he could have easily left this off
the campaign platform but he didn't which was interesting...

I think this is an extraordinarilly important topic, but if it doesn't concern you know who, then it will die after 2 pages.
I did a thread on this awhile back on a 60 minutes report that shows how Congress colluded with drug companies to ship out millions of pills to
intermediate companies who just shipped butt loads of pills. I think 3 million pills were sent to one specific area of W.VA.
Anyway, thanks for another insight to this important topic!

Unless and until we have some people in Congress who aren't only looking out for themselves, there will never be any serious attempt to reform the
system via laws or other means.

And the SCOTUS Citizen's United decision (Corporations are people too - yay!) just put a bizarre cherry on the top of this pile of crap.

I believe the only answer is term limits. When we finally have representatives who's primary mission isn't to get re-elected until they drop dead
from old age, we might have a shot at real reform.

And maybe even an actual *representative" based republic.

Imagine that?

Lobbying groups are one of the biggest detriments to a government supposedly "for the people". They undermine the very people who elected those in
office.

I've never understood why there aren't laws against it. It fosters an atmosphere of payoffs, and corruption.

There are exceptions though. I would say organizations comprised of the general citizenry (such as the NRA, or AARP, for example, are fair. Lobbying
groups that are primarily corporate, or industry reps (such insurance companies, or the defense contractors) should be forbidden.

Term limits? Not likely. You would never get that legislation through the senate, no matter what party is in control.

As far as the ballot box? A large majority of ppl are not informed enough to make rational decisions about candidates, and issues. Others are single
issue voters. This leads to name recognition being the driving force. Name recognition cones from advertising. Advertising is paid for by the same ppl
that are paying the lobbyists.

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